The present invention relates to articles for absorbing body fluids. More particularly, the invention pertains to a fastening system including a flexible fabric fastener for securing a disposable absorbent article about a wearer.
Disposable absorbent articles such as diapers, incontinence undergarments, feminine products, or the like have heretofore included a wide variety of fastening systems for securing the product about the wearer. For example, previous fastening systems have included tape fastening tabs, garment attachment adhesives, button and button hole systems, snaps, belts, and the like. Previous fastening systems have also included hook-and-loop fasteners which provide several desirable characteristics, such as ease of adjustment for fit, and one-hand application and removal.
Current fastening systems that employ a hook fastener that releasably attaches to a loop fastener have several disadvantages as well. For example, the loop fastener is typically a flexible fabric having a plurality of loops formed on one major surface. The choices for attaching the loop fastener to the underlying substrate may be limited. Adhesives as used heretofore have tended to bleed through the porous fabric of the loop fastener and bond the loops to the base of the loop material. This can significantly reduce the number of loops that are available for attachment to the hook fastener. The alternatives to using adhesives to bond the loop fasteners to the substrate tend to employ additional components or equipment which tend to adversely impact high speed manufacturing techniques.
Therefore, what is lacking and needed in the art is a fastening component that incorporates a fastener made of flexible fabric which is securely held in place without deleteriously affecting performance.